Richard Thompson Quotes

As a very small child I found recorded noise and the solitary singer beneath the spotlight so dramatic and so brave... walking the plank... willingly... It was sink or swim. The very notion of standing there, alone, I found beautiful.

You know sometimes I just want to curl up on stage and lie there for a while - it's weird.

Every three days on average, I am alone on stage, facing the public.

The greatest benefit of being a solo performer is that it is seriously frightening, but at the same time very empowering. It's just you and the audience. All the weight is on you to deliver the songs.

When you're on stage singing, you're naked. Your voice is something very intimate, and that's why I'm scared every time before I perform. It doesn't matter if I'm singing for a king or a queen or the Pope, it's enough to be in front of anybody. I suffer, but I can't do anything about it.

When you stand up acoustic in front of an audience, you really are a man without any clothes on. And that can be fun - it depends how much of an exhibitionist you are, I suppose. I quite enjoy it.

It's a little nerve-wracking to stand up on stage all by yourself.

Half of acting is you're very intimidated, overcoming your fears, letting yourself be vulnerable in front of people and that sort of stuff.

Whenever I walk out on a stage, I'm begging for affection.

I tried to go out for theater or theater arts, but I was too scared or too intimidated. But I had a lot of friends on the cross country team that had great senses of humor.

And when I perform on my own tour, I have to talk myself into going out on that stage every single night.

Stand-up comedy seems like a terrifying thing. Objectively. Before anyone has done it, it seems like one of the most frightening things you could conceive, and there's just no shortcut - you just have to do it.

I don't feel nervous or fearful when I'm on stage.

My mother always told me before shows to stand up and show them whose little boy you are.

I've auditioned for roles that involved voice, but I don't like it. I feel like, I can't do this in front of you. It seems so separate - I don't share it with a lot of people. And I'm not into public performances.

I've never really been one to get what they call stage fright so much.

I am not the most courageous guy in the world outside of the court. Being alone in the dark is something I don't like.

The one thing I learned the most about acting is it takes a tremendous amount of courage to go there and stand still. It takes courage and guts to step out of your mind frame and depict something.

I don't think that bravery is about skin. Bravery is about a willingness to show emotional need.

I didn't start singing with my eyes open until I was 19 - that's how shy I was!

I don't have a sidekick - no Ed McMahon. So when I go out there, I'm lonely. It's scary.

To stand up on the stage is to say to many people: Look at me. How can you do that without speaking the only truth you know? There is no such thing as an uncommitted actor.

Actually, performing is a lot like golf. You are alone, so vulnerable.

I found at an early age the times when I learned the most about myself was when I got thrown out there on a stage in front of a microphone when you didn't really want to be out there, where you're kind of afraid.

The first night was awful because I was so afraid, and I was never more afraid because it was going out of my character to be outgoing and to be vulnerable and to be out there and onstage. My hands were sweaty and I couldn't swallow, and I drank a bottle of wine to calm my nerves.